The Beach Boys – Biography

In 1961, 5 Americans, Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine got together in Hawthorne, California to form a rock band, The Beach Boys with Wilsons’ father, Murry as their manager. Brian Wilson, the band’s leader, composer, arranger and producer also wrote most of the band’s early singles and albums.

Around mid-1962, The Beach Boys signed up with Capitol Records, Wilson went on to write co-wrote more than twenty Top 40 hits which includes hugely popular ones like “Surfin’ USA”, “Dance Dance Dance”, “California Girls”, “In My Room” and many more.

These songs and albums gained international recognition, propelling The Beach Boys as one of the biggest and most successful rock band of their time in the United States and the world.

By the mid-1960s, Brian’s growing creative ambition and songwriting ability would dominate the group’s musical direction. The primarily Brian-composed Pet Sounds album and “Good Vibrations” single (both released in 1966) featured a complex, intricate and multi-layered sound.

Unfortunately, as with many other artists who gained super stardom, the stress of it all caused Brian to lose control of the band because of problems with his mental health and “substance” abuse. Eventually this led to the cancellation of the anticipated follow up to Pet Sounds, Smile.

The Beach Boys went on the decline soon after and though they released a number of highly artistic albums around 1967–1973, the group never managed to reclaim its mid-1960s peak when The Beach Boys were equalled with The Beatles both in terms of commercial and critical appeal.